{"id":297923,"date":"2019-04-22T06:00:38","date_gmt":"2019-04-21T20:00:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/?p=297923"},"modified":"2019-04-22T06:00:38","modified_gmt":"2019-04-21T20:00:38","slug":"exercise-palau-is-largest-us-army-presence-in-palau-in-3-decades","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/exercise-palau-is-largest-us-army-presence-in-palau-in-3-decades\/","title":{"rendered":"Exercise Palau is largest US Army presence in Palau in 3 decades"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id='gallery-1' class='gallery galleryid-297923 gallery-columns-3 gallery-size-medium'><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon '>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/exercise-palau-is-largest-us-army-presence-in-palau-in-3-decades\/exercise-palau-pix1\/'>Exercise Palau pix1<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<figcaption class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-297927'>\n\t\t\t\tPrivate 1st Class Benjamin Alley, an infantryman serving with A Company, 5th Battallion, 20th Infantry Regiment, 1-2 Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 7th Infantry Division, stages in a security posture while more of his fellow soldiers exit a C-130 Hercules at the Palau International Airport last April 13, 2019, as part of Exercise Palau. U.S. (ARMY\/SGT. 1ST CLASS WHITNEY C. HOUSTON)\n\n\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon '>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/exercise-palau-is-largest-us-army-presence-in-palau-in-3-decades\/exercise-palau-pix2\/'>Exercise Palau pix2<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<figcaption class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-297928'>\n\t\t\t\tMinister of State Faustina K. Rahuher-Marugg, left, Staff Sgt. Jacob Remoket, Staff Sgt. Jessica San Nicolas, Sgt. Sloane Malchiyanged, and U.S. Ambassador to Palau Amy Hyatt, pose for a picture as soldiers exit a C-130 Hercules at the Palau International Airport last April 13, 2019, as part of Exercise Palau. The three U.S.-Palauan soldiers are all participating during the training exercise. (ARMY\/SGT. 1ST CLASS WHITNEY C. HOUSTON)\n\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n<p>Exercise\u00a0Palau\u00a02019, which ran from April 13 to April 19, 2019, marked the largest U.S. Army presence in the Republic of\u00a0Palau\u00a0in three decades. The exercise included community and animal health outreach services at several sites including Koror, Peleliu, and Angaur. <\/p>\n<p>Also, there was security cooperation operations with the 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment, 1-2 Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 7th Infantry Division. <\/p>\n<p>A local road that leads to a training site for the future use of Palauan Security Forces, was also repaired and widened.<\/p>\n<p>Through civic action and training, Exercise Palau was a demonstration that the U.S. is committed to the long-term security of Palau as outlined in the Compact of Free Association and has been long desired by the people of Palau.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The exercise fell under the Pacific Pathways concept, which aims to strengthen partner relationships and aids to ensure Palau builds sustainable, resilient, and inclusive economic growth.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis exercise is a direct reflection of our commitment to the security and defense of Palau,\u201d said Amy Hyatt, U.S. Ambassador to Palau, during a press conference held after the infantry unit\u2019s arrival. \u201c&#8230;When [U.S. Navy] Adm. Philip Davidson was here, the president of Palau asked the admiral to bring more army exercises, because there hadn\u2019t been any in decades. The next thing we know, Pacific Pathways\u2019 exercise locations included Palau as one of their training sites. So Adm. Davidson was good on his word, and the Palauan people are happy to have the [U.S.] Army here.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>On arrival, the 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment demonstrated how to secure an airfield with the collaboration of the Palauan Security Forces. This was the first of many training exercises to be held throughout the week.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe securing of the airfield\u2026was done with the collaboration of Palauan Security Forces,\u201d said Lt. Col. Douglas Graham, who serves as commander of the 5th Bn., 20th Inf. Reg., 1-2 SBCT, 7th Inf. Div. \u201cOver the next week we\u2019ll conduct many more training events like this, and we\u2019ll be looking at training areas that will benefit both U.S. and Palauan forces in the future.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>A unique aspect to the exercise was three enlisted Palauan soldiers returning to Palau to participate in the exercise. The citizens of Palau under the COFA agreement have been able to join the U.S. Armed Forces and have been heavy contributors in U.S. foreign campaigns.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s humbling to know that soldiers from Palau enlist at a greater rate than almost any other state,\u201d Graham said, \u201cand that seven have sacrificed their lives in the last decades keeping their fellow man safe and free. It\u2019s an honor to serve with the likes of our Palauan soldiers here.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The relationship between the U.S. and Palau is strong, important and based on mutual respect and cooperation. Participation in security cooperation with a focus on the human element makes for a more secure and free Indo-Pacific.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s a great story for us and Palau,\u201d Graham said. \u201cI understand that there has always been a deep relationship between our militaries, and it\u2019s nice to be able to honor our commitments with the COFA, and it\u2019s an honor to be able to hopefully start a new chapter with this exercise.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Exercise\u00a0Palau\u00a02019, which ran from April 13 to April 19, 2019, marked the largest U.S. Army&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":297927,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[319],"class_list":["post-297923","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pacific","tag-palau"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/297923","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=297923"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/297923\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/297927"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=297923"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=297923"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=297923"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}